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Casino employees usually allude to chips as "cheques," which is of French origin. Technically, there is a difference between a cheque and a chip. A cheque is just a chip with a value printed on it and is always worth the value of the written value. Chips, however, do not have values imprinted on them and the value is defined by the table. For instance, at a poker tournament, the casino might define white chips as one dollar and blue chips as $10; whereas, at a roulette game, the casino might define white chips as 25 cents and blue chips as two dollars. A different example, the cheap red, white, and blue plastic chips you buy at the department store for your weekly poker game are called "chips" due to the fact that they do not have values imprinted on them.
When you put your cash down on the table and hear the dealer announce, "Cheque change only," he’s simply informing the boxman that a new bettor wants to exchange money for cheques, and that the cash sitting on the table isn’t in play. Money plays in many betting houses, so if you place a 5 dollar bill on the Pass Line just prior to the player tosses the pair of dice and the dealer does not change your money for chips, your cash is "live" and "in play."
Technically, in actual craps games, we bet with with cheques, not chips. Occasionally, a player will walk up to the the table, put down a one hundred dollar cheque, and tell the croupier, "Cheque change." It’s amusing to act like an amateur and ask the croupier, "Hey, I am a beginner to this game, what’s a cheque?" Generally, their wacky responses will entertain you.
